


Finders Keepers

by LivewirePrime



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Coercion, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Hiding Medical Issues, M/M, Medical Procedures, Past Relationship(s), Roommates, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivewirePrime/pseuds/LivewirePrime
Summary: Tarn and the DJD find Fulcrum first, and for better or for worse, the two of them have a history.
Relationships: Fulcrum/Tarn (Transformers)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	Finders Keepers

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by these art pieces:
> 
> https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/idw-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-33-30th-anniversary-cover-by-sarah-stone-plus-clean-art/31276/
> 
> https://elapuse.tumblr.com/post/114056261392/like-we-practiced

"Are you _ sure _ he's still online? He looks pretty dead to me," Helex groused, crossing both pairs of arms.

"I swear, if we came all the way out here for  _ nothing—"  _ Tesarus started, but was cut off by Kaon.

"No no, his spark signature is still there. I can feel it." 

Vos muttered something incomprehensible in primal vernacular.

It was then that Tarn decided to speak up. "While I agree that Kaon's ability to sense things like spark energy is  _ weird, _ it's more than a little useful." 

Kaon grinned. "Want me to give him a little jolt to wake him up?"

"Hmm… no, I think not. I want to see how he reacts when his proximity alarms wake him up, and the first thing he sees is my mask," Tarn smirked under said mask, although he had an odd sense of foreboding, looking at this limp, orange-faced bot. He couldn't fathom  _ why, _ though. Well, it didn't matter. This was just one lousy k-con who simply failed to die. He knelt before the bot, and waited. Still, that nagging feeling of familiarity itched at his processor….

* * *

Fulcrum was floating endlessly in a void of black. It was an abyss he thought might be death. He distantly wondered how long it would take for his spark to go to the Afterspark, if it ever would at all. It would be just his luck, honestly. 

But then, the void started changing. Somewhere far off in the distance, there was a pinging sound, but that was less important than the other presence here. Just an aura, really, but an enveloping one. It was excited. To see him? Maybe. No, _quite likely,_ actually; it was one that he recognized. One that he recognized  _ well _ .

_ Damus? _

The pinging grew more insistent, and the abyss started clearing and brightening. Static resolved into blurred figures. They were talking, but they sounded faraway. 

The source of the pinging turned out to be his proximity alert, and as his visual field clarified even further, he realized he was face to face with a Decepticon insignia mask belonging to none other than Tarn, and behind him stood the rest of the DJD.

In an instant, he was panicking and trying to scramble backwards fruitlessly into a pile of rubble. He wasn't processing a single thing any of them were saying, until Tarn was practically inches from his face, knees boxing him in on either side of his legs, and massive servos braced on either side of his helm. His optics were bright with rage, and something else. "Where did you hear that name?!"

Fulcrum's panic was very momentarily forgotten in favor of confusion. Though the mask in front of his face was no less terrifying, Tarn's field was a chaotic mess that wasn't all anger. 

"Wh-what?" It was the first thing that came to mind and it just sort of left Fulcrum's vocalizer before he could stop it, and he internally cringed at his own inelegance.

"Damus! Where did you hear it?!" Tarn snarled out, almost pressing his mask into Fulcrum's face. 

"Uh, Tarn? What's going on here?" Helex asked with a confused frown. 

"Yeah, are we torturing him or not?" Tesarus asked. "Because I'm starting to get a little bored."

Vos garbled out another set of glyphs and folded his arms.

"This  _ is  _ kind of a departure from anything we normally do," Kaon agreed with a pensive expression. 

"All of you, stay out of this until he gives me an answer," Tarn snarled at his teammates, before returning his burning red gaze to the terrified bot beneath him again. Only then did Tarn really realize how odd it was that a Decepticon, _or any bot for that matter,_ to have _yellow_ optics. That damning familiarity itched at him again. "Where did you hear it?!" He demanded once more.

As Fulcrum's spark whirled rapidly in panic, he wondered whether he could really answer this question without damning himself further. He might have been convicted of cowardice, but he had never once broken his cover as a spy. His cover story and paperwork had him listed as forged a million years into the war. The Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology had been demolished _right_ _ before the war.  _ If he confirmed that he knew Damus from the Academy, then it would be more than easy to see that he had lied in his paperwork. 

Then again, he had already apparently said the name out loud, so it was kind of a moot point, wasn't it? Damus had started _insisting_ that everyone call him Glitch after the Senate mutilated his helm and servos. Pretty much nobody who met Damus after that point would know that that's his real name. Fulcrum would have laughed, but the situation was anything but funny. He had no idea why the name was so important to _Tarn_ of all mechs, but if he cared about Damus, then maybe the truth would offer him just the tiniest sliver of a chance at survival? 

Fulcrum worked his intake and reset his vocalizer, hoping his voice came out more confident than he felt. "He was a close friend of mine, and was also my roommate at Shockwave's Academy."

He waited for his torturous offlinement to begin. One nanoklik, two nanokliks, three nanokliks…. Nothing, except for complete silence from the intimidating purple bot. This close, Fulcrum could tell that there were two layers of red glass to Tarn's optics. One layer he suspected was a part of his mask, and the other, deeper ones were Tarn's real optics, which were frantically searching his face. Fulcrum was surprised by the slew of emotions in Tarn's field, which no longer contained any anger. He could pick out relief, and fear, and longing, and a sense of intense conflict. 

The extended moment of silence was shattered by Tesarus, who started lumbering forward. "If you're not going to do the honors of starting this party, then I will. Seriously, what the frag, Tarn? Did a glitch mouse crawl into your—"

Suddenly, Fulcrum felt Tarn's field harden in resolve, and he braced for the worst. However, he was caught by surprise once more.

"We're _not_ killing him. Not yet. We're taking him with us, and his case will be _placed under review_ until further notice," Tarn interrupted Tesarus in a stern tone as he stood up and grabbed Fulcrum by his forearm, and started dragging him back to the Peaceful Tyranny.

Fulcrum was absolutely dumbstruck and still shaky with panic as he stumbled to keep up with Tarn. What the frag, what the absolute frag. He was still alive somehow. His spark was practically trying to pound out of its chamber with an emotion he couldn't quite place, but he suspected it was anxiety about his uncertain fate, or joy over not being tortured to death right now, or all of the burning questions racing through his processor, such as why the name Damus had affected Tarn so much, or why the frag he had been spared. The DJD never spares  _ anyone. _

Behind them, the other members of the DJD looked at each other in confusion as to what the hell just happened between Tarn and this pathetic little k-con, before following as well. 

"I didn't even get to grind his legs off…" Tesarus lamented. 

"You think _you're_ disappointed? I thought that intake of his woulda looked good with his own processor in it, but I guess I'll never know," Helex added.

Vos asked something of Kaon as he offered the blind mech his arm for guidance. 

Kaon accepted the offered arm, and gave his thoughts regarding Vos's question. "I'm not certain… I know I've been around in the DJD for a _while_ now, but I've never seen Tarn do something like  _ this _ before."

Vos put forth an idea, and Kaon agreed. "You make a very good point, Vos. Hmm… maybe this Damus character was an Amica, or a Conjunx?"

Vos shrugged, and the two of them boarded the ship last. The ramp pulled up to a close, and the Peaceful Tyranny took off. 


End file.
